The present Invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Osteospermum plant, botanically known as Osteospermum ecklonis, and hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name Akope.
The new Osteospermum is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Aabyhoj, Denmark. The objective of the breeding program is to create new Osteospermum cultivars with interesting ray floret colors.
The new Osteospermum originated from a cross made by the Inventor of an unidentified proprietary Osteospermum ecklonis seedling selection as the male, or pollen, parent with the proprietary Osteospermum ecklonis selection identified as code Number 97002 as the female, or seed, parent. The new Osteospermum was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a single flowering plant within the progeny of the stated cross grown in a controlled environment in Aabyhoj, Denmark, in 1998.
Asexual reproduction of the new Osteospermum by vegetative tip cuttings was first conducted in Aabyhoj, Denmark in 1998. Asexual reproduction by cuttings has shown that the unique features of this new Osteospermum are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.
The cultivar Akope has not been observed under all possible environmental conditions. The phenotype may vary somewhat with variations in environment such as temperature, daylength, light intensity, water status, and fertility levels without, however, any variance in genotype.
The following traits have been repeatedly observed and are determined to be the unique characteristics of xe2x80x98Akopexe2x80x99. These characteristics in combination distinguish xe2x80x98Akopexe2x80x99 as a new and distinct Osteospermum:
1. Upright plant habit.
2. Very freely branching growth habit; full and dense plants.
3. Freely flowering with numerous inflorescences per plant.
4. Large inflorescences with salmon pink-colored ray florets and dark burgundy-colored disc florets.
5. Dark green leaves.
Compared to plants of the parent selections, plant of the new Osteospermum are more compact, differ in ray floret coloration and are more freely flowering during the summer.
The new Osteospermum can be compared to the Osteospermum ecklonis cultivar Cape Daisy Zulu, disclosed in U.S. Plant Pat. No. 10,389. In addition to differences in floret colors, in side-by-side comparisons conducted in Encinitas, Calif., plants of the new Osteospermum differ from plants of the cultivar Cape Daisy Zulu in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Osteospermum have shorter and more elliptical leaves than plants of the cultivar Cape Daisy Zulu.
2. Plants of the new Osteospermum flower about 10 to 14 days later than plants of the cultivar Cape Daisy Zulu.
3. Plants of the new Osteospermum have shorter peduncles than plants of the cultivar Cape Daisy Zulu.